Moving on ... Sarah and Dave are now trying to rebuild there life after the ordeal

On Tuesday at Maidstone Crown Court the pair were cleared of molesting the woman after a jury returned unanimous not-guilty verdicts after 30 minutes.

Fighting back tears, pretty brunette Sarah told The Sun on Sunday: “The lies she told nearly destroyed me, I’ve been living in fear of going to prison for something we didn’t do.

“What happened that night was just a bit of drunken fun. I suggested we go upstairs together, she and Dave had a couple of drunken kisses, there was a tiny bit of foreplay.

“That was it. We were all just being giddy. For her to then claim we had assaulted her is just madness.

“We wouldn’t assault somebody, we are not like that. We are not swingers either, the entire thing has been a nightmare.”

Investment banker Dave and Sarah are, in fact, a devoted, hard-working couple who, before the court case, were living a happy life in St Mary’s Island, Chatham, Kent, with their two girls, aged six and eight, who we are not naming.

Former children’s arts class boss Sarah added: “We lived the ideal life. We have loads of friends, ones I made when the girls were born. We loved getting together, mainly at our house.”

JIM BENNETT

Happy couple ... the pair, pictured her before a court appearance, had the perfect life before their lives fell apart

It was a friend of a friend that Sarah grew close to who accused them of assault.

She said: “She’d sometimes come round with her kids and they’d play with mine.

“I liked her. If I am honest she was a bit of a snob. She wanted the poshest wine and would boast about money.

“Dave and I would giggle about it. But it was endearing, not at all offensive.”

The woman lived on the estate until 2013 then moved away with her husband.

But one evening the following year, Sarah invited her back to the area for a get-together — a night that would lead to two years of hell for the Finans.

Sarah, 37, said: “On October 4, 2014, I invited her over for a party. Neighbours who had emigrated to Australia had returned to see us for a 40th birthday.”

Sarah invited seven neighbours — past and present — to their local Ship and Trades pub for food. But during a boozy meal their accuser revealed why her husband wasn’t there that night.

Sarah said: “The woman was having an affair and had been with her lover for four hours that afternoon. I was shocked.”

Chris Eades

After eights ... it was following a boozy meal that things began to take a more adventurous turn

After dinner they all went drinking at a nearby bar before heading back to the Finans’ home shortly after midnight.

Their accuser was supposed to be driving home but had drunk too much to drive so arranged to stay at the home of a neighbour a two-minute walk away.

The couple poured drinks in the kitchen and said goodbye to the babysitter — but then the night took a raunchy turn.

Sarah recalled: “My friend came up to me and asked for help.

“We’d both had boob jobs. I’d had mine after having both girls and she said hers felt lumpy so wanted to compare.

“The blokes were laughing so we went upstairs. We felt each others to compare and they were lumpy.

“Downstairs the lads were jeering and laughing at us because we said we had been checking out her boobs.”

Dave, 41, said: “We were messing around.

“Then this woman pulled her top down under her boobs, then she grabbed Sarah’s top down a bit and rubbed her boobs up against Sarah’s bra.

“I took photos on my phone. It was stupid fun. Not the kind of thing we did every night but we had drunk a lot.”

Two couples went home leaving the couple who had emigrated to Australia — who were staying in the Finans master bedroom suite — their accuser, and them.

Sarah said: “She said she couldn’t be bothered to go to our neighbour’s house so would stay on our sofa. I got her some pyjamas.” Dave joined his wife upstairs and the couple discussed the possibility of having their first threesome.

Getty Images

Temperature rising ... the situation grew more amorous as the two women sat in the couple’s living room (picture posed by models)

Sarah said: “That word was never actually used. I went back downstairs and said, ‘Do you want to come upstairs with us?’ I never said the word threesome, it was just a moment of madness.”

The situation grew more amorous as the two women sat in the couple’s living room on their cream sofa and Dave said to their guest, “Can I kiss you?”.

She then asked Sarah, “Can I kiss him?” Sarah gave the go-ahead. She lent forward and passionately kissed Dave as Sarah watched on. Then Dave left the room to check on their daughters.

Sarah said: “I touched her down there, just a fumble. We were giggling. My friend upstairs said she could hear us giggling.”

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Dave returned to the lounge and Sarah went to get more drinks.

He recalled: “I went back in and it carried on a bit from before. We kissed again and then I touched her, but it wasn’t full penetration.

“Then I said again, ‘Do you want to come upstairs?’ But then she said her head was messed up, she couldn’t carry on. And that was that.

“Everything stopped that instant. I would never ever force myself on someone.

Everything was consensual.

“There was no nastiness, no awkwardness. Sarah and I went to bed, she stayed on the sofa.”

Sarah, in tears as she remembers the terrible sequence of events, explained: “If we’d gone upstairs I don’t think I would have done it. It was just daft fun, then forgotten about. We went to the spare room because our friends were in our bed, she stayed on the sofa and that was that. We didn’t even discuss it.”

Chris Eades

Brave ... Sarah fights back the tears as couple show the strain

But while they slept she was ringing the POLICE claiming that the pair forced themselves on her. By the time Sarah and Dave woke up all the guests had gone. Sarah said: “I was in bed with a hangover, Dave was up with the girls. At 11am police cars turned up.

“I was looking out of the window, it seemed exciting, I was being a nosey neighbour — I could never have imagined they were there for us.”

The couple were arrested for assault by penetration and for the next ten hours interrogated about the night before.

Sarah said: “They wouldn’t let us wash our hands because they wanted to do tests, put me in a cell.

“I was scared, gobsmacked, confused. I couldn’t believe what she had said about us. She had been involved, it was drunken stupidity, not assault.

“She claimed I had grabbed her boobs in the kitchen, she said that she felt uncomfortable afterwards. But she groped mine. And she could have left then if she did.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.”

Steve Finn

Defiant ... David and Sarah Finan both denied a charge of assault by penetration

When the traumatised couple were reunited, Sarah sobbed as Dave told her that everything would be OK.

He then hired solicitors and they underwent lie detector tests which proved they were telling the truth.

Sarah said: “I thought it would go away in a few days, she’d see sense. But it didn’t. Our friends were amazing, they rallied round. They knew we wouldn’t do anything like that.

“People were coming forward all the time offering us character witnesses. Our solicitors told us to stop as we had too many.

“We were just waiting for the Crown Prosecution Service to realise how stupid it was and drop the charges.”

But in early 2015, Dave’s solicitor rang saying they were being charged and would have to go to court. The strain became apparent. Petite 5ft 3in Sarah’s weight plummetted by a stone and a half. Dave borrowed money from family and friends, took out loans and got credit cards to try and cope with the ever-increasing legal fees which finally hit £42,000.

Steve Finn

Taking its toll ... he strain became apparent as petite 5ft 3in Sarah’s weight plummetted by a stone and a half

Sarah said: “I felt scared, paranoid about what people thought about me.

“We hid ourselves away. Life was different, scrimping, saving, not being able to go on holiday. Not knowing if we’d be with the girls for Christmas.

“We tried to keep everything normal for the girls, they still don’t know what has happened, I hope they never will.”

By the time the case came to court earlier this month the couple felt sorry for their accuser.

Chris Eades

Starting again ... "The worst has been the utter embarrassment of it all," said Dave: "But this nightmare is behind us now"

Dave explained: “You’re clearly troubled to tell those lies, to do that to someone who was once a friend. She may have regretted it but crying assault is disgusting. In court it was clear she was lying, she kept getting tripped up so would tell more lies.

“For us, it was a relief to be able to tell our side of the story — the truth.” After a four-day trial it took the jury just 30 minutes to find them both not guilty.

Dave said: “Waiting for that moment was horrendous. A sense of relief, then anger. This has changed us. We are less carefree, we worry more.

“We didn’t deserve this. All for a drunken fumble — that she wanted too. I’m not angry with her, she’s clearly ill. But I’m angry with the CPS. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money, it should never have gone to court.

“We are not some kinky, sex- obsessed couple.

“The worst has been the utter embarrassment of it all. But this nightmare is behind us now.